This Old House

The bones are still good

It is Saturday morning and there are no cartoons being watched in our house anymore. I remember a time when that was the only day we would get to watch the likes of Scooby Doo, Flintstones, and Schoolhouse Rock. In case you never heard of Schoolhouse Rock it was an educational cartoon short series that explained subjects like grammar and civics to catchy songs like “I am just a Bill” or “Conjunction Junction.” Those were the good old days.

 I recall many Saturday mornings I would be planted in front of the TV consuming my favorite child programming while my father would be upstairs watching his favorite show “This Old House.” At the time there was very little about the show that appealed to me. The show just seemed like some dude showing people how to cut boards and fix up old houses. Now that I am older, I find a new appreciation for the show.

My father was, and still is, a better than average wood worker. So much of our cabinetry, furniture and other wood appointments were hand crafted by him. The smell of fresh cut oak and pine used to greet me like the aroma of fresh coffee in the morning. My Fathers shop was across from my bedroom in the basement and many nights I would drift asleep to the sound of table saws or a power sander. I am obviously nostalgic of these times but not because I long for them again (in many ways I do) but because I am now somewhat of a wood worker myself.

I can watch shows like “This Old House” and even scrounge the internet for “Woodwrights Shop” episodes but there are better ones now. Shows like “Fixer Upper”, “Tiny House Big Living” and any number of You Tube channels related to woodworking keep me inspired and challenged. This is on top of numerous “projects” the wife comes up with as well. There is no shortage of work for those who have the desire, skill, and correct tools.

What is more impressive to me about the subject is a woodworker’s vision. Recently I have fallen asleep at night watching a Youtube channel called “My Self Reliance” and I am fascinated by the skill and vision this guy has. He doesn’t talk much and so you are left trying to figure out what he is doing or trying to do. The same type of vision is displayed in those who flip houses, restore furniture, or just buy an old house to restore it for themselves. There is an eye for beauty and desire to create something beautiful from shambles.

I promise I am heading in a particular direction so please hang in there. One of my favorite projects to embark on usually involves restoration or repurposing furniture. Now, I am no Chip Gaines (Fixer Upper) or Bob Villa (This Old House) when it comes to skill or vision, but I have made some pretty cool pieces that our family uses and enjoys every day. A couple years back a neighbor put a dresser out for trash pickup that I could not resist.

Like a pet lover finding a stray dog, I had found a stray dresser that just needed some love. All the qualities were there, she just needed to be restored and repurposed for today’s style. It had crow’s feet and “the bones” (structural components) were in good condition. Check it out:

The top surface wood had water glass stains and some pretty deep cuts in it, but I had a vision for this piece. It didn’t need to be perfect. It had all the lines and curves I needed. It also had the bones within to remain a fixture for many years to come. There is no way that discarding something like this made any sense to me. So, with a lot of elbow grease and patience, I was able to create this:

Look at the rich texture and color of that top surface. It turned out so beautiful. It is by no means perfect, but it never had to be perfect. It just needed to perfect in certain ways. I paid close attention to the surface and made sure the rest of the piece was solid and functional (added hardware later). Can you imagine this piece making it to the trash now? As it is, another neighbor of mine bugged me forever to sell it to him and I finally did. It resides at their lake house to this day.

We live in a largely disposable society. We have grown accustomed to throwing items away that we used to place a value on lasting for a long time. Sure, some things were always going to be thrown away when they no longer met our needs or desires. However, items like small electronics, appliances, and even cars have fallen in the cross hairs of disposal. What will be the resale value of Tesla car on the used car market? You don’t think this is all by design?

We have been and are continuing to be conditioned that if something is no longer of use to us or is broken to simply throw it away or replace it. Often it doesn’t even matter if it could be fixed or if someone else could use it, if we don’t like or need it anymore it goes in the trash. Many of us have been blessed with the means to just throw money at the issue and “fix it” that way; like giving a few dollars to the homeless guy at the highway off ramp. They are counting on you not caring enough to REALLY help them; just throw money at him. Well, there is a problem that even money won’t be able to fix.

My point in all this is to warn you that there is an effort to set our form of government, our constitution, and our elections out to the curb. The globalists want to do away with our form of governments (both local and federal), do away with our constitution, and it starts with doing away with our elections and electoral college. Yes, it starts with us losing faith in our elections. There is calculated and deliberate attempt to condition Americans to lose faith in our elections and give up on the whole process. Don’t fall for the trap!

The hard left globalists in our country already want our electoral college done away with. Are we going to get in line with them because of the fraud we have witnessed?

Our elections are corrupted, not broken!

The globalists have no further work to convince the left in this country that our constitution is outdated, the electoral college is unfair, and that capitalism has failed us. The real work is left to convince you and me of these things. There are flaws in the system. There are gaping, huge chasms of vulnerabilities in our local elections (remember that each states makes their own rules for federal elections) and the electoral college works as it was intended (to avoid mob rule). We have the greatest system on earth and perhaps in history. Just because it is somewhat tattered right now, doesn’t mean we just throw it away.

“If there is a lesson in all of this it is that our Constitution is neither a self-actuating nor a self-correcting document. It requires the constant attention and devotion of all citizens. There is a story, often told, that upon exiting the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: A republic, if you can keep it.”

https://constitutioncenter.org/education/classroom-resource-library/classroom/perspectives-on-the-constitution-a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it

We are not a democracy (mob rule). The United States is a Constitutional Republic; a Federation of 50 nation-states each with their own three branches governments. We will learn more about this in 17^th Special Operations Group’s next Series on “We the people.” We are a great nation and the best government there is. Sure, like a corrupted PC or smart phone it needs to be cleaned up. There is a corrupt virus that will need to be eradicated. There are still too many American willing to put up with the malfunctions. Eventually, the corruption will be more than any of us can handle. It is far from perfect now; it was far from perfect when it was created. All that being said, this old house of ours has “good bones.”

“While today we marvel at the extraordinary accomplishment of our Founding Fathers, their own reaction to the US Constitution when it was presented to them for their signatures was considerably less enthusiastic. Benjamin Franklin, ever the optimist even at the age of 81, gave what was for him a remarkably restrained assessment in his final speech before the Constitutional Convention: "…when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views." He thought it impossible to expect a "perfect production" from such a gathering, but he believed that the Constitution they had just drafted, "with all its faults," was better than any alternative that was likely to emerge.”

https://constitutioncenter.org/education/classroom-resource-library/classroom/perspectives-on-the-constitution-a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it

That dresser I found on the street corner wasn’t perfect, and it did not need to be. I am thankful I was able to see the value in that collection of wood. I was glad I was able to bring out the beauty in it and find new life for it. The same is true for our government, our constitution, and our elections. The potential is there for greatness. The foundation is steady and the structure is sound. There is too much good in this country worth saving. It will take a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of tough truths to accept. We cannot join our globalist enemies in the camp of abolishing our elections and constitution.

The ugliness of our corruption is coming to light and that is a good thing. More is yet to come I believe. However, the ugliness does not mean it is rotten to the core, the foundation still remains. We have been told the best is yet to come because someone sees the potential in America and in its people. It is not time to trash what took so much blood, sweat, and tears to create. This old house has a solid foundation and the bones are still good. This old house many more years of life in it, can you see it?

Biernutz_71

2/18/2023

“I would rather die with Christ and hope in my heart and be called a fool then to stand over the dead corpse of the Republic and say, I told you so.”